Hellooooo again my fellow readers!
Christmas is only 5 days away!!!! But... sad news, for you. I'm going on holiday for a week and a half starting today, so no updating till i get back. Sorry! I hope everyone has a great Christmas and safe holidays if they are going somewhere.
This chapter includes quite a lot of a Finn/Piper sibling relationship, so tell me if you like that.
Now, to my reviewers:
Whisper: I'd actually laugh if Spot got up a bit more courage and did sick Aerrow.. but as far as i can see that's not going to happen. Thanks so much for the review. It made me laugh. And i really hope I updated fast enough for you. Merry Christmas!!
delphigirl689: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my stories. Have a great Christmas and I hope to hear from you when I get back. hi
Blue: I agree about the quiff... disturbing but awesome. and yes, more Aerrow x Piper this chapter.. just for you. Have a really good Christmas and I will try to update ASAP when I get back.
Diehard: that story would be cool, but I think i'll have to wait till i finish this one first. thanks for the compliment, but i think my writing style changes a lot... meh. Merry Christmas! Enjoy this chapter.
Amethyst: Yeah.. Finn is a strange one. Enjoy this chapter and have a great Christmas!
Ok guys.. that's over.. now read on!
Previously:
"I've heard they use pretty brutal methods over there and its quite obvious that something isn't right with Aerrow. Some people have even gone as far as saying that their mental torture is worse than the physical torture."
Piper's eyes moved to look at where Aerrow had left the room. "It seems like it is."
Chapter 4: Found Out
After Aerrow left the room, the rest of the Storm Hawks and Starling made small talk for a few hours. Piper's heart wasn't really in it because she spent most of this time worrying about her Sky Knight. Eventually the rest of the team wandered off to bed, leaving Starling and Piper sitting at the table in silence. Piper rose when Starling suggested she went to bed, but she couldn't resist walking past Aerrow's room on the way to hers. She lingered at the door for longer than was necessary, just watching him breathe.
The next morning at breakfast, the Storm Hawks including Starling, who had stayed over night in her own bedroom aboard the Condor, were sitting around the table in the kitchen. Starling, Aerrow and Piper had intended to start planning the mission, but it seemed that typical Condor life would not allow for it.
Junko was steadily eating his way through a box of cereal and two bowls full of traditional Wallop breakfast food, providing a spectacle for Starling who had never seen anyone eat that much in one sitting before. Finn had previously been celebrating because he had received Storm Hawks action figures from a box of Atmos Pops. However, Radarr had taken his chance to steal the toys and was now chirping gleefully while being chased around the table by Finn. In all the commotion, a jug of milk had fallen to the floor and Stork had jumped to clean it up, muttering about how they were all going to fall prey to bacteria lurking in the milk. While all of this was going on, Aerrow and Piper sat at one end of the table, talking to each other and acting like this was normal. Starling had to wonder how they ever got anything done at all.
Eventually, breakfast was over, and Starling, Aerrow and Piper moved to the bridge to discuss the plan while Stork went to the helm and Finn, Junko and Radarr went to watch their favourite TV program, Atmos Idol. The show was in its final stages and Finn and Junko were each cheering on different contestants, and so it wasn't uncommon to hear random screaming and cheering while the show was on. Nonetheless, Starling attempted to block out the noise and started to discuss the plan.
"If we are still intending on entering the cave, then I think we need to do so by cover of night. That way it will be harder for the Talons outside the cave to spot us," she stated.
Piper nodded. "I agree. Aerrow?"
He hesitated, the memories of his time in the pitch-black room, also known as the pit, resurfacing and making him shiver. However, Starling and Piper were both staring at him so he complied. "Uh… sure." His reluctance didn't go unnoticed by the girls, who shared a worried glance over his head.
The awkward silence was broken by Junko's cheer from the living room. Starling, startled out of her reprieve, continued. "Even at night, there will still be heaps of Talons guarding the cave, so we'll need a distraction if we want to get in without too much trouble."
Finn's voice carried from a few rooms away. "Did I hear someone say distraction?"
Piper sighed, before replying, "Yes, Finn."
"Wait, pause that for a second Junko. I can't miss Jayce's song," Finn's voice was the same as ever, loud enough for anyone to hear from a mile away even if he was only talking to Junko who was in the same room.
On the other hand, Junko's reply could only just be heard. "But you can't pause live TV, Finn."
Piper could almost hear Finn roll his eyes. "Honestly Junko, do you not know anything? I personally went to Terra Atmosia to buy a TiVo thing that can pause, rewind and replay live TV. Now this button-"
"FINN!" Piper interrupted, "If we wanted you to be a walking advertisement for TiVo we would have sold you to the Electronics shop years ago. Now will you hurry up and get in here already?"
After a few seconds Finn walked through the door and onto the bridge, before plonking himself down at the table between Starling and Aerrow. "Ok, ok. Now is this or is this not the best distraction you've ever heard of?"
"What, Atmos Idol or TiVo?" a disgruntled Piper replied, "Because not even the Talons would get distracted by that crap."
Finn opened his mouth to continue before he realised that he had just been insulted. He promptly closed his mouth and proceeded to glare at Piper, who turned away and crossed her arms. After a few seconds, Starling cleared her throat, and Finn got back on track. "No," he said, irritated. However he couldn't help a smile creeping onto his face when he continued. "Fireworks!!! Specially created by moi."
Piper gave him a speculating look, as if wondering how on earth he could have created fireworks. "And how do these fireworks work Finn?"
"Well," Finn said, excited and starting to babble, "you just grab a light bluey sort of crystal and an orange crystal and then you push them together and BOOM! Fireworks! I don't know if you can do it with other colours but-"
Piper narrowed her eyes. "And where did you get these crystals, Finn?"
Finn stopped talking suddenly, realising what he had just said. His eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape. "Oh, no, I forgot, I didn't make them, not at all, just bought them on Terra-"
But Piper jumped at her chance to make Finn squirm, and asked again, "Where were the crystals from Finn?"
"Crystals? I don't remember ever mentioning crystals. Neither did the packet that I bought the fireworks in. Nup. Nothing about crystals. Nothing at all," Finn said, all the while cringing further and further away from Piper, who was beginning to lean across the table in order to interrogate him more.
Aerrow, sensing a huge Piper vs. Finn argument coming along, gestured frantically to Starling, and they quietly rose from the table and took cover on the other side of the room as Piper and Finn continued the fight.
"Did this light bluey crystal and orange crystal possibly come from my room Finn?" Piper continued.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about Piper. I know nothing about any such crystals. You know what? Just forget about the fireworks idea. It was stupid. I'll just go back to Atmos Idol, shall I?" he said, getting up from the chair and almost tipping it over in his haste to get away.
Piper growled. "Not so fast. I want to know why you were in my room and why you felt that it was at your liberty to use my crystals?"
Finn's resolve crumbled under the mighty glare that Piper was giving him. He muttered, "I might just run away now," before bolting out of sight like a frighted rabbit.
It was only the sight of Aerrow and Starling blocking the door that prevented Piper from following.
"If you don't mind," Starling said, slightly irritated, "I'd like to get on with planning the mission rather than playing immature games like 'catch me if you can'."
Piper, embarrassed that she had just been told off by her idol, blushed and stammered an agreement. Aerrow smirked at her predicament, but stopped when she glared at him and muttered, "Shut up."
He put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I didn't say anything!"
Piper scoffed. "You were thinking it. I know you were thinking it."
The edges of Aerrow's mouth twitched upwards slightly. "Guilty."
Starling's slightly annoyed voice drifted over to the couple from the table. "If you are done over there, I think it would be advisable to come up with a plan before the whole Atmos is destroyed, don't you?"
Aerrow rolled his eyes, "Coming, Starling." Their hands brushed slightly against each other as they turned to walk back to the table. Aerrow felt a tingle at the top of his spine in reaction to the contact. He looked sideways at Piper and was perplexed to notice that she looked slightly pink, but thought that she must still be blushing in reaction to Starling calling her immature.
"Ok, so we'll work out the distraction later. If worst comes to worst, we'll have Stork, Finn and Junko start a mock-fight with the Talons while slip past them," she decided, before pulling out a hand-drawn diagram of the cave, "Once we're inside, there's a steep decline until we are about 100 metres in," she said, pointing at a spot on the map. "I suspect that the Cyclonians will have the cave lit and guards posted up to this point so that any intruders can be taken out before they get too close. Hopefully these guards will be drawn out by our distraction, but we will have to be prepared either way, so Piper, can you start a list of what we need to take?
Piper grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and then wrote What to bring: weapons. When she had finished, she nodded to Starling who continued.
"After that point, I expect that the cave will get very dark because we are so far underground, so Piper can you add torches to the list please." Piper did so while Starling resumed. "Our aim is this chamber here, where Cyclonis is housing her weapon," she stated, pointing to a position approximately one kilometre away from the entrance, "Cyclonis wouldn't want anyone to reach the chamber so we can anticipate that all along this tunnel will be pitch black with very low ceilings and possibly some sort of defence mechanisms."
Aerrow's breathing was laboured. He was trying to stay focussed but Starling's description of the cave was bringing back horrifying memories of a tiny room where no light or sound could penetrate the walls. He was distantly aware of Piper and Starling still discussing the plan a few metres away, but familiar pain was starting to course through his body and darkness was beginning to edge into his vision. His eyesight started to go fuzzy, flickering from the Condor to the pit*, until he was unsure which was reality and which was a figment of his imagination. He couldn't move. The darkness was consuming him, while fear clenched at his stomach. He faintly heard Starling's voice falter, and then Piper calling his name over and over again, but it seemed to get more and more faint each time. He tried to reply but the darkness swallowed him and he sank down into the pain of his memories.
Heh.. a cliffhanger (sorta) .. my bad.. might have forgotten about that.
Anyway, you'll have to wait for a week and a half to find out what happens.
As your christmas present to me, please review!!!!
Danke.
Merry Christmas once again!
Ali xox
